New Routines

We are settling into some new routines here. We hired a rickshaw driver to take the kids all the way to school and bring them home. This is working out much better than finding a random rickshaw driver to take them to the bus stop. The same driver is taking me to Sukrupa 3 mornings per week. I think I will be working with Grade 2 students most of the time. There are only 7 of them which is great! There names are: Arvind (boy-8), Bharath (boy-9), Vasanth (boy-9), Dinesh (boy-7), Sandhya (girl-9), Nasreen (girl-9), and Simran (girl-7). I am slowly learning how to pronounce their names! Arvind and Bharath live at Sukrupa while the others go home to their families everyday. As you can see from the pictures, the children are very happy and have a lot of fun at school. In the lower picture, they are acting out a skit for me. I have mostly worked with them in maths (as they say here) and science. They have wonderful cursive writing and English. Sometimes I have trouble understanding them because of their accents but usually one of the others can explain in a way I can understand. They are working on tables (multiplication), expanding numbers, 3 digit addition and subtraction, etc. I enjoy teaching the science lessons more than the math. They are mostly attentive; surprisingly, the boys more so than the girls. I am kind of winging it since I have no formal training in elementary education. Any of you that are teachers feel free to send me some pointers. I feel like I am flying by the seat of my pants!!

The other routine that I am enjoying greatly is having a cook come every night to make us dinner. Her name is Jayamma. She is a wonderful cook and although she speaks very little English, we are able to communicate sufficiently (my neighbor helps translate when needed). She doesn't mind me watching her and taking notes on what she is doing. Often I get sidetracked by one of the kids and miss a couple steps so I don't know if I will be able to duplicate any of it. But, at least I am getting the gist of Indian cooking and I don't have to do all the work or cleaning up! Jamilla continues to do the wash. With all this help, I might not want to come home!

Jayamma

Jamilla

Republic Day in Mysore

Early Saturday morning, my family and I went to a city called Mysore. Mysore used to be the capitol of Karnataka which is a state in India. Now the capitol is Bangalore. It took us 3 hours to get there. The taxi ride was a little insane! It was sort of like being in a car racing video game where you have to swerve in and out of cars, cows, bikes, people, and lots of pot holes going at top speed. Luckily we got to see monkeys sliding down ropes and it looked like they were sliding down a fire pole.


Some of the things we saw were: Tippu Sultan's grave site (Tippu was the king that Brits defeated, see picture to the far right), the Mysore Palace, the Cathedral of Philomena that was built in 1959 (right), the Mysore Zoo where we saw tigers, snakes, elephants, baboons, birds, etc..., the Lalitha Mahal Palace built in 1930 where we had lunch, a bull temple and the main temple on Chamundi Hill (see pictures below), and the Brindavan Gardens.

We were bombarded by people trying to sell us stuff. I bought a violin made out of half of a coconut and some wood and wire. We paid way too much for it - 100RS ($2.50). Our driver later told us that it should have only cost about 30RS. Since Saturday was Republic Day (a day India celebrates its Independence) they lit the Mysore Palace after dark (see pictures at the bottom). Normally, they only light the palace on Sunday evenings. After we saw the lights, we drove to Brindavan Gardens to see the fountains lit-up. It was packed with people. We didn't get home until 11:30 p.m. I threw up in the hallway of our apartment complex due to car sickness. Luckily I didn't get sick in the taxi! It was a long day but we had a great time in Mysore.

Indian Classical Dance

On Friday evening we attended an Indian classical dance festival (see image with the announcement) upon the invitation of a friend and colleague at JNCASR, Umesh Waghmare, whose wife is active in this art form. I have seen a few similar performances in the past, and these performers seemed to be quite good, although I am hardly an expert. For one dance, the music was supposed to have "incorporated rap music." Indian classical music already contains some chanting elements that are similar to rap. In any case, I didn't mind the rap portion because I couldn't understand the words (which were in Kannada). If the lyrics were filled with false bravado and profanity (as our American version of rap often is), I wouldn't have enjoyed it, but as they say, ignorance is bliss.

Amy took the included photographs, and I think you'll agree that they are exceptionally good, particularly the silhouette photo.

Sukrupa

Sukrupa is the name of the school where I will be volunteering several days a week. It was started by a Christian mother and daughter in 2002 to help underprivileged slum children escape a life of poverty and illiteracy. The name Sukrupa is a combination of the mother's name, Suguna and the daughter's name, Krupa (meaning Grace). Twelve children live at the home and about 200 others come from the surrounding neighborhood. They provide education and activities that help develop leadership skills and self-esteem. They provide training in practical skills like candle making, sewing and embroidery with which the older kids can make a basic living. They teach about basic hygiene and provide all the kids with 2 meals per day. As you can imagine, this is a huge undertaking.

Krupa spent over an hour with me this morning sharing her story and the work of the Lord in her life and in the school. She is an amazing person. She grew up in a modest neighborhood in Bangalore where her family tried as best they could to help the poor families around them. After she attended college she spent several years in the US and traveled extensively abroad with her job. She said that one day while driving in Pennsylvania, she was overcome by the beauty of all the Fall colors and felt incredibly blessed to have had opportunities to travel the world. Out of gratitude, she asked God what she could do to give back and bless others. He placed it on her heart to start this home/school and it has grown from 1 room and a few dozen kids to over 200 kids and a multi storied building. The children are adorable. They speak very good English and have the best manners I have ever seen in kids that age. I am very excited to be able to help at the school.

It is so amazing how God works and how he brought me to Sukrupa. I have been wanting to get involved with a school or charity since I arrived. Last Thursday, I attended an Overseas Women's Club meeting. Since I don't know many people, I was kind of wandering around and struck up a conversation with a women from Austin, Texas named Katherine. I discovered that she is a personal trainer and we seemed to have a lot in common. We talked for almost the whole morning. I mentioned that I was interested in getting involved with a charity and she said she had helped out at a school not too far from where we live. She took my email address and said she would contact me with some more information about the school.

As you know from Thomas' blog, on Sunday we went to a church called the Bangalore International Christian Fellowship. We got there a little early and when we walked in, there was Katherine! Not only that, Krupa attends the church as well and the 12 residential kids come also. Katherine introduced me to them and I was able to make arrangements to visit the school today. God is so faithful! I was so filled with awe that He had brought us all together.

If you want to find out more about Sukrupa, please go to their website at http://www.sukrupa.org/. I will be taking some photos of the kids and Tim will help them get the website spruced up a bit. My first day of teaching is tomorrow. I'll keep you posted on how it goes!!

A Brief History Lesson

I had a fantastic time at Mark's fieldtrip on Saturday. The tour guide did a wonderful job tying together world history and explaining how it helped shape Bangalore. She started her tour by asking the kids what significant world event occurred in 1781. None of the kids guess that it was the year America signed the Constitution. She then launched into a discussion about how General George Washington defeated Lord Cornwallis to gain freedom from the British. Cornwallis return to England defeated and wanted to repair his reputation. He therefore went to India (specifically Mysore) to help the British fight against the powerful King Tipu. King Tipu tried to enlist the help of the French to fend off the British but neither Louis XVI nor Napoleon were able to successful come to his aid. Mysore eventually fell to the British in 1799. The British didn't like all the mosquitoes in Mysore and so relocated to Bangalore. They built a cantonment adjoining the old town of Bangalore. The Brits were separated from the old town by the large Cubbon Park that we visited last weekend. They say that Bangalore is a Tale of Two Cities existing side by side. It is interesting to speculate that had the British kept control of the American colonies, they might not have claimed Southern India.

There are many old relics from the British occupation of Bangalore. Trinity Church is one of them. Winston Churchill attended this church during his 3 year stint in Bangalore. The British brought many things to Bangalore, including Christianity (although St. Thomas had brought Christianity to Kerala many years before). They brought new foods, clothes, language, and sports like cricket and hunting.

It is interesting that Bangalore was the 1st city in South Asia to have electricity. It is also probably the only city in the world where they have movies showing in 6 different languages at the same cinema.

It was fun to see Mark interacting with his classmates. I had to laugh when we took the elevator up to the 13th floor for lunch. One of the kids said, "Hey, Zach and Cody live on the 13th floor". For those of you without kids, Zach and Cody is a popular kids show in the US. The kids are very familiar with American culture. Grace's class uses Everyday Math which was developed by the University of Chicago. All the story problems involve US currency, US cities, etc. Grace is happy she doesn't have to convert everything to rupees!!

I hope you have learned a little history about Bangalore!

Churches

Now that we've been here for a couple of weekends, we have been able to attend a few churches around the area. The church that we were able to go to this morning was the total opposite of the one we went to last weekend. The church last week was in a regular neighborhood of the city and was very crowded. Many of the people there had come from off the street, and few knew English, so there was a translator. It was a lot more up beat than any other church that I have been to before.

The church we went to this morning was more like the ones that you would find in the US. Most of the people there were international, and a couple people we met were from America also. It is held at a really nice hotel right in the middle of the city. The church has a youth group just like any one you would find at home.

On our way home today, we stopped to go to the restaurant that you heard about in Mark's blog again for lunch... and they had beef! I had some steak and mashed potatoes, which tasted identical to the ones at home. We left the restaurant and went back home.

We will probably go to the church that we're more used to. My mom had already met a couple of the people who attend that church through the Overseas Womens Group. Tomorrow we start our third week of school and have almost become used to the way that school is run here.

Battle of Bangalore

Over this weekend on Saturday, my mom and I went on a field trip. It started at 6:45 AM and it was about a 30 minute drive to the Trinity Church where we had to meet. I had to have something to eat, so you can imagine how early I woke up.

My mom and I left our apartment around 6:15. We had to wait over 15 minutes for the taxi to come. When we got to the church, we waited for the rest of the class to arrive. We left to go inside the Trinity Church, and we were assigned a worksheet to do while inside. There were questions about British Generals, and the answers were hanging on the wall in plaques. Our guide explained to us about how India gained its independence. We walked to the roof of the church and saw the bell. She showed us the road we were about to walk down which is now called MG Road (short for Mahatma Gandhi.) It used to be called South Parade. She told us that the church was highly elevated because Bangalore is hilly and they put it on top of a hill so it will never flood, and so it will stay up for a long period of time in history because it is hard to take down a Church without complaints. We started walking down MG Road, and we saw the site of Winston Churchill's old house that is now demolished. The tour guide showed us a picture of what the house looked like back then.

We walked more and she talked more, but I will skip that. We finally reached the Barton Centre for breakfast. We took an elevator up 13 floors. We reached the top and had a complementary watermelon juice drink. We had an amazing view of the city, then we started to eat. I had pancakes, cereal, and chicken sausage. Here are some pictures of the view (click to enlarge.)

Vidhana Soudha Government Building

Girls marching at Parade Grounds

My mom and I left and bought a city map of Bangalore. We called our taxi drive to pick us up, but the company told us our driver was in an accident, so we waited for 2 hours. We walked around and looked for sunglasses and bought some groceries. We finally got our driver to get us and when we were in the cars a man selling sunglasses came us to us and said, "would you like to buy these for 500 rupees?" (12.50 USD). My mom said no, then our drive moved up about 2 feet and the man ran up and said, "110!". We didn't buy them. That's what I did this Saturday.

Life in Pictures Redux

I've been tinkering with Adobe Photoshop in order to make an animated slide show of our pictures. I've taken a few pictures from Amy's post below and created an animated GIF file (click the image above to begin the animation). Enjoy.

Week 3

Well, we are approaching the end of week 3 in India. I am learning to make do with what is available here. Today I had my first sandwich since arriving (grilled cheese); I just couldn't eat another bowl of rice (I had 2 for breakfast!) I have learned a few tricks along the way, like wiping our kitchen counters with salt water to keep the ants away. My bargaining skills are also improving. I can usually talk a rickshaw driver down 10-20 rupees and get him to admit that he has change when at first he says he does not.

I have been attending an Overseas Women's group which meets weekly at an opulent hotel downtown (see photo). This week there was a guest speaker that talked about Indian festivals and celebrations. I have met some very nice people. There is a school not too far from our apartments that welcomes volunteers so I plan to pursue that next week.

The kids continue to enjoy school. Thomas has been a very good sport about his after school play practices. We are looking forward to the February 2nd performance!






We were planning a trip to Mysore this weekend but Mark's class has a Saturday morning fieldtrip (look for a blog on this soon)so we will go next weekend instead. The kids have been playing a lot of cricket.








I'm including a few other pictures that give you a flavor for things here: reroofing of the apartment next door and school children on a fieldtrip.

Favorites and Longings

In this blog, each family member writes about what they enjoy the most in India, and what they miss the most from home...

Mark- I miss my friends and family the most. What I like about India is animals, like dogs (cats not so much), cows, monkeys, chickens hanging in the windows, and the chickens that are alive. I also like the school campus.

Amy- What I like about India is the vast array of sights you see wherever you go. For instance, on the ride to the kids' bus stop, we pass donkeys and cows eating garbage by the road, lots of little storefronts, people selling fruit from a cart, half clothed little kids running around, women washing clothes outside their 1 room houses, lots of stray dogs, boys playing cricket in an open field, children dressed in uniforms walking to school, a whole family squeezed onto a motorcycle. Hopefully I can take a video and post it for you all to see. There is always something fascinating going on. And the people seem content with life despite their struggles. I also like the closeness India has brought to our family.

The things I miss most are family, friends, and the simple comforts of home, e.g., a comfortable mattress, a dishwasher, a car!!!

Thomas- Like Mark, I miss my friends and family the most (including Libby). My favorite thing here is to be a part of another culture and to see the conditions of places outside the United States. Our school is pretty good and we just bought a cricket set which we have played a lot today (which is a holiday called Sankranthi in South India to celebrate the harvest).

Grace- What I miss most is my friends, mostly Freyda, Becky, Madi, Sarah and Emma. I miss my dog and my family also. I love India becase everyone is so nice to me. It is very beautiful. I love going shopping here also.

Tim- I have very much enjoyed the time together as a family. Back home, we all (including and perhaps especially yours truly) were occupied with many activities outside the family. Those activities are fine and important within limits, but this experience is enabling us to grow closer as a family with far fewer distractions. Regarding what I miss the most, I have to say my dog, Libby (no offense to my extended family--remember, Libby can't Skype, but you can).

Weekend in Bangalore

After traveling and scrambling to learn how to survive here for the past two weeks, we finally had a somewhat calm weekend in our adopted home town of Bangalore. The city is known as the "Garden City" in India, and the name is well deserved, even if much of the new development is compromising the greenery around town. After having visited Chennai, Guwahati, Hyderabad, and Kolkata for at least a few days each over the past few years, I am very happy that we decided to stay in Bangalore. Yesterday, we took a cab downtown and toured Cubbon Park, which is very nice, but we found that it does not allow "playing" (a sign has an X-ed out picture of a cricket player and wicket). We had hoped to play some catch with the boys' new gloves. Later in the day, we went shopping for food, a cell phone for Thomas, and sneakers for me. I was surprised to find that brand-name shoes (e.g., Nike, Reebok) are more expensive here than they are in the US. I had hoped to save some baggage weight and money by buying shoes here. Oh well.

Today, we attended Agape Bible Church on the northeast side of town. The service was very lively and was given in both Kanada (the local language) and English by alternating between the pastor and a translator. After the service, the church held a baptism ceremony (see picture). Later, the boys sat for their first Indian haircuts. I think they look great, and the price is certainly right (60 rupees, or $1.50, combined). The boys are hoping that their 'friends who aren't boys' (our synonym for 'girlfriends') at home like them, too.

First Week of School

The following is an example of my language homework (around 500 words). School has been going well, and I've made some friends. The kids are amazing at soccer; that's the only sport they ever play. I have to take second and third language classes. I'm taking German for second and Hindi for third. I have German 4 times a week and Hindi once. That's about it for now.

Jatropha Oil

Currently there is a shortage of affordable and renewable fuel sources. The cost of crude oil is now 100 USD per barrel (4,000 rupees), and expected to reach 150 USD (6,000 rupees) in 2 years. There is a great need for alternative energy sources. A plant called Jatropha, developed in India, has the potential to provide alternative energy. The individual seeds from the Jatropha plant contain oil that can be harvested for fuel. Jatropha oil should be an alternative fuel source because it is a vegetable oil that is harvested twice a year. Jatropha grows relatively quickly and lives, producing seeds for 50 years. This means that there could be a large supply of the oil from the seeds. Jatropha can provide four times the amount of fuel as a hectare of soybeans, and ten times the amount of corn. Also Jatropha can grow in bad or rich soil. It prefers bad soil and is drought resistant. It can grow in sandy, salty, or gravelly soil. Therefore it can be grown on cheep soil and does not need to replace other crops that are being grown currently. The seeds are inexpensive and each seed has a high quantity of fuel in it. It is an easy process to get the oil. All you have to do is open the seeds, squeeze the oil, and then refine it a bit. Jatropha can provide high quality biodiesel that can be used in diesel cars. The residue from processing can be used to power electric power plants. Goldman Sachs believes that Jatropha is one of the best candidates for future biodiesel production. Daimler Chrysler Research concluded that Jatropha biodiesel has not yet reached optimal quality, but it already meets European Union norm for biodiesel quality.The only down side to Jatropha is that the farmers will have to negotiate the payment for fuel for the first two years until they know how much the seeds are worth. Also, the long term impact on the soil quality and environment from Jatropha is unknown. Jatropha is good for India because it will help break poverty because it is cheap and affordable. Jatropha is not a food crop so it will not be wasting any food for the food shortage in India. It could provide more jobs for farmers and help create new industries and technologies. India has conducted extensive testing and is planning on planting 40 million hectares with Jatropha. There is currently over 1 metric ton of Jatropha seed oil which could provide an alternative fuel. In conclusion, I feel that Jatropha has excellent potential of becoming a significant biofuel in the future. India should take advantage of this plant in helping to find an alternative energy source for the country.

Trip to Kolkata

I flew to Kolkata (formerly spelled Calcutta) on Wednesday morning (9 Jan) to speak at a workshop on fuel cells. My cab driver's aggressiveness reminded me of my past trips to India. Until this experience, the drivers have been reasonably careful on this visit. During this one-hour drive from the airport to the workshop venue (Jadavpur University), we had three near misses with pedestrians in which the driver slammed the brakes and the tires squealed. Of course, we had countless other close calls that didn't require drastic evasive measures, but those are just a part of driving in India.

This is my first extended visit to Kolkata, and my first impressions are dominated by the sheer size of the city. It simply goes on and on, seemingly without end. The city also seems to be more polluted than Bangalore and Hyderabad. The exhaust fumes are inescapable and produce a constant, low-grade burning sensation in my eyes. I hope that my description doesn't put the region in a bad light. I've had several good friends and mentors from Bengal; in particular, my favorite teacher in college was Subrata Mukherjee (Cornell). Perhaps not coincidentally, the name Mukherjee means 'teacher.'
The workshop has a small number of attendees (probably 30 or so), but I am enjoying spending time with friends Shripad Revankar (Nuclear Eng., Purdue) and Pradip Majumdar (Mech. Eng., Northern Illinois). My presentation on hydrogen storage is scheduled for this afternoon (10 Jan). Shripad and I toured part of the city yesterday and will see more tonight. I've included a picture (above) of the Birla temple near the city's center. The Birla family is very wealthy and has built a number of Hindu temples throughout India, typically in the major cities. Construction of this temple began in 1970 and ended in 1996. Cameras were not allowed inside the facility; I took this photo with my phone's camera outside the gate.
I'm not sure when this entry will post to the blog because I don't have an internet connection right now; I am writing the blog as an offline email message. It will be interesting to see the date that the blog gives for the entry, because I probably will not have an internet connection until tomorrow (11 Jan).
POSTSCRIPT: Shripad and I took another taxi tour of the city, and then we rented a boat and a captain, who paddled us around the Ganges River for an hour or so. The Ganges (or Ganga, as it is called here) is the most famous and sacred river in India. Unfortunately, the pictures are from my phone's camera (I know, I probably should invest in my own digital camera).

Our Life in Pictures

This is our apartment complex called Sohba Windfall. It is located in Jakkur, Amruthalli, Bangalore.

Grace's Bedroom
Amy & Tim's room

Thomas & Mark's room

Dining room
Computer desk (where I'm sitting now)
Family room

We have a t.v. with 100 channels - several in English like ESPN (international), BBC World, Discovery Channel, Animal Planet, cNBC (international), CNN (international), a Christian network, Cartoon Network, HBO, Disney and of course many Indian soap operas! We don't use the t.v. much. The boys enjoy watching cricket. I enjoy BBC World.

1 of 3 bathrooms

kitchen
pool
path around complex

The kids are in front of the apartment waiting for a taxi to take them to the
school bus.

This is the courtyard of the Aditi school. Thomas is the second on the left, playing soccer with his class. (Click on picture to enlarge)

Here is Grace standing in an outdoor corridor at school. Mark and a friend are in the background.

Tim and Grace on their 1st rickshaw ride. The kids like to ride in the
rickshaws because of the open air. I definitely prefer a taxi.

Pictures from the street in front of our apartment.

In the first photo, you can see a woman carrying cement on her head (they are repairing something across the street). The middle photo shows the shop where we bought crayons for Grace. The last photo is a street vendor selling peanuts. There is also a barber around the corner. We plan to take Thomas for a haircut this weekend if he's brave enough.

Here are some photos from a lovely dinner we enjoyed in downtown Bangalore with Tim's student, Sriharsha and his family. The Garimella's from West Lafayette also joined us. We are sorry that they are headed back to the US and wouldn't be around to help us navigate our way around town.

The last photo shows Mark washing his hands in a bowl of water and lemon, a common after dinner routine for Indians since they generally eat with their hands.

Last night, my neighbor showed me how to cook dal (lentils), nan and paratha (breads). Tomorrow she will show me how to cook another dish, chana (chickpeas). I also found a website that has podcasts of Indian cookery. I think I will enjoy trying to make some authentic dishes.

Well, I hope these pictures help you visualize our life here. Keep checking back for more updates and pictures!